Printing plate base



June 4, 1935.

H. w. HACKER PRINTING PLATE BASE Filea' June 21, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet lJune 1935- H. w. HACKER I PRIIYITING PLATE BASE Filed June 21, 1934 sSheets-Sheet 2 June 4, 1935. H. w. HACKER PRINTING PLATE B ASE 3Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed June 21. 1954 fl'orace I I I Patented June 4, 1935a l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" PRINTING PLATE BASE Horace W. Hacker,La Grange, Ill.

Application June 21, 1934, Serial No. 731,737

. 18 Claims. (01. 101382) I My invention relates to the construction of-Figure 4, a view of the modified form similar to printing plate basesand also to the construction Figure 2; of lumber from which printingplate bases may Figure 5, a view similar to Figure 3 of still I be cutto desired sizes. The object of my invenanother modified form of myinvention; and

5 tion is to so construct lumber of the type speci- Figure 6, afragmentary perspective View of 5 fied that the warping, swelling andshrinking the modified form of Figure 5 showing the grain thereof wheninslab form or cut to sizes for printrelation of the body portion withrespect to the ing plate bases will be reduced to a minimum or upper andlower surfaces of the base. entirely eliminated. Referring to Figures 1and 2 of the drawings To-this end I construct the lumber of a body myimproved blocking lumber is shown as in- 10 portion made up of aplurality of small wood eluding a plurality of small wood blocks I0.Beblocks each of which blocks, before incorporation fore these blocksare assembled in the relation in the lumber, has all of its facesprovided with shown I treat all the faces of each blockwith a M asurface seal which will prevent air and moisture surface seal which willnot destroy the nail-penefrom entering the block through any facethereof trable characteristics of the wood block,.prefer- 15 but whichwill not destroy the nail penetrable ably a coating of aluminum paint II. I then cecharacteristics of the wood block. 7 The blocks mentthe'blocks together side to side to form a thus treated are cementedtogether preferably unitary slab. The upper and lower faces of the withthe grain of each block running at an angle resulting slab are; thencovered by cementing with the grain of each block cemented thereto.theretosheetsof thin wood veneer l2, such sheets 20 I then cement to theupper and lower faces of permitting the bases cut from the lumber to-bethe block assembly thin sheets of wood veneer planed-to meet;dimensional requirements withwhich will permit the corresponding facesof the out disturbing the surface seal of the blocks I0. plate bases cutfrom the. lumber to be planed to These sheets are so thin thatthe'y willnot warp meet dimensional requirements without disturbthe lumber orbases'cut therefrom as a result of 25 ing the surface seal of any of thesmall blocks swelling 'or shrinking. When a printing plate embodiedtherein. When a printing plate base base is cutor sawed from the lumberthus formed is cut or sawed from lumber thus formed I again so as toproduce freshly exposed faces of the seal the freshly exposed edges ofthe plate with blocks I0 I seal such faces from atmospheric hua suitablemetallic tape such as aluminum foil. midity by applying thereto asuitable metallic 30 I have found in practice that the surfaces of tapel3, preferably aluminum foil as shown in the individual blocks can bevery effectively sealed Figure 2. n V V by a coating of aluminum paintalthough other In the modified form shown in Figures 3 and 4-. forms ofmetallic paints or metallic leaf or foil the construction is the same asthat heretofore may be employed for the purpose of providing a describedexcept that I employ two layers of 35 surface seal for the'faces of theblocks embodied blocks Inn, with the abutting surfaces of one layer inthe lumber. My experiments also show that staggered with respect to theabutting surfaces by hermetically sealing all the faces of each of ofthe other layer; the small wood blocks the assembled material While Ihave shown the body portion of the 40 is most effectively protected fromatmospheric lumber formed of a plurality of wood blocks, my humidity andits deleterious effect on the stability invention also contemplates theforming of such of such materialj 7 portion in one piece ha'ving'all itssurfaces her- In describing my invention reference will be ha meticallysealed and its upper and lower surfaces to the accompanying drawingswherein respectively c'overedwith thin sheets of wood ve- Figure 1 is aperspective view of a printing neer to permit planing without disturbingany 45 plate base cut from lumber with the freshly exsealed surface ofsaid body portion. When bases posed edges thereof sealed by metallictape; f are cut from lumber having a one piece surface Figure 2, afragmentary perspective view of the sealed body portion the freshlyexposed edges of base showing the grain relation of adjacent small thecut base would also be sealed by metallic tape wood blocks embodiedtherein and also showing as heretofore referred to. l 7

metallic tape partly applied to the freshly ex- In the modified formshown in Figures 5 and 6 posed edges of the plate; my improved lumber isalso constituted by a Figure 3, a view similar to Figure 1, of amodibody portion formed of a plurality of small wood fied form of myinvention but before metallic tape blocks l4. Before these blocks areassembled in is applied to the freshly exposed edges of the base; therelation shown all the faces of each block are provided with a surfaceseal such as a coating I 5 of aluminum paint. I then cement the blockstogether to form a unitary slab. In assembling the blocks M of the slabI arrange them so that their cross grain ends will constitute the upperand lower surfaces of the slab. My experiments have shown that woodswells and shrinks in the ratio of about 6 or 5 to 1 as between sidegrain and end grain. In other words, changes its dimensions veryslightly in the direction of the grain and therefore a distinctadvantage is gained by this arrangement with respect to the stability ofthe height of the lumber or the printing plate base cut therefrom. Also,small blocks cemented together would swell sideways and warp seriouslywhich condition I prevent by the surface sealing of each blockheretofore referred to. The upper and lower faces of the resulting slabare covered by cementing thereto thin sheets of wood veneer I6 suchsheets permitting the bases cut from the lumber to be planed tomeetdimensional requirements without disturbing the surface seal of theblocks H. Blcckinglumber with its upper and lower surfaces formed solelyby the crossgrain ends of wood has never been possible before from apractical standpoint, although desirable, because such lumber splitsunder nailing and renders planing for the purpose of decreasing theheight of the lumber or printing plate base cut therefrom exceedinglydifficult. By employing the sheets of veneer l6 as shown and describedsplitting of the lumber or printing bases cut. therefrom under nailingis prevented, planing to decrease height becomes an easy operationcapable of being accomplished with ordinary wood working tools andthe-desired practical use of lumber and bases whose upper and lowersurfaces are constituted by the cross-grain ends of the wood renderedpossible. When a printing platebase is cut orsawed from blocking'lumbermade in accordance with this modification I also seal the freshlyexposed edges of the base with suitable metallic tapesuch as aluminumfoil H.

By arranging the blocks M in pairs and in the row relation heretoforereferred to I avoid the use of larger cubical blocks with acorresponding saving in cost and at the same time, this-permits the useof smaller blocks which have been found to be more susceptible toperfect sealing.

My invention is not limited to the surface sealing of the blocks as inall the constructions shown, with the block surface sealing omitted, theuse of sheets of veneer to provide the two major faces of the lumberproduces the advantages ofpreventing splitting of the blocks whenpenetrated by nails passing throughone of theveneer sheets and ofenabling printing plate bases cut from the lumber to be more easilyplaned to decrease height than would be the case where the surfaces of aplurality of blocks constituted the platen:- ceiving face of the base.

When I use the word veneer in the claims I mean thin sheets of wood,metal-or any other material suitably adapted for the purposes set forthherein.

I claim:

1. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, each of said elements having all its faces hermetically'sealed.

2. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a wood body portion having all its surfaceshermeticallysealed, and sheets of veneer cemented to and covering the upper andlower surfaces of said body portion.

8. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, each of elements having all its faces hermetically sealed beforeassembly into said slab, and sheets of veneer cemented to and coveringthe upper and lower surfaces of the slab.

l. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, each of said elements having all its faces liermetically sealedwith a metallic coating before assembly into said slab.

5. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, each of said elements having all its faces hermetically sealedwith a metallic coating before assembly into said. slab, and sheets ofveneer cemented to and covering the upp r and lower surfaces of theslab.

6. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, each of said elements having all its faces hermetically sealedby alayer of metallic leaf or foil before assembly into said slab.

7. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, each of said elements having all its faces hermetically sealed bya layer of metallic leaf or foil before assembly into said slab, andsheets of veneer cemented. to and covering the upper an lower surfacesof the slab.

8. The method'of producing a printing plate base which consists inhermetically sealing all the faces of each of a plurality of woodelements, cementing said elements together to form a slab; cutting thebase to desired size from the slab thus formed, and then hermeticallysealing the edges of the base which were freshly exposed by the cuttingoperation.

9. The method of producing a printing plate base which consists inhermetically sealing all the faces of each of a plurality of woodelements, cementing said elements together to form a slab, cutting thebase to desired size from the slab thus formed, and then hermeticallysealing the edges of the base which were freshly exposed by the cuttingoperation by covering said edges with metallic tape.

10. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together insuperimposed layers to form a slab, and with the abutting faces of theelements in one layer staggered with respect to the abutting faces ofthe elements in adjacent layers.

11. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together insuperimposed layers to form a slab, and with the abutting faces of theelements in one layer staggered with respect to the abutting faces ofthe elements in adjacent layers, and sheets of veneer cemented to andcovering the upper and lower surfaces of the slab.

12. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form a slabwith the cross grain ends of the elements constituting the upper andlower surfaces of the slab respectively, and sheets of veneer cementedto and covering said surfaces.

13. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form a slabwith the cross grain ends of the elements constituting the upper andlower surfaces of the slab respectively, each of said elements havingall its faces sealed before assembly into said slab, and sheets ofveneer cemented to and covering said upper and lower surfaces of theslab.

14. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be out, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form a slabwith the cross grain ends of the elements constituting the upper andlower surfaces of the slab,

each of said elements having all its faces sealed with a metalliccoating before assembly into said slab, and sheets of veneer cemented toand covering said surfaces.

15. The method of producing a printing plate base which consists insealing all the faces of each of a plurality of wood elements, cementingsaid elements together to form a slab with the cross grain ends of theelements constituting the upper and lower surfaces thereof, cementing toand covering said surfaces with veneer sheets, cutting the base todesired size from the material thus formed, and then sealing the facesof the wood elements which were freshly exposed by the cuttingoperation.

16. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut, said lumbercomprising a wood body portion having all its surfaces hermeticallysealed and its upper and lower surfaces constituted by the cross grainof the wood, and sheets of veneer cemented to and covering the upper andlower surfaces of said body portion.

17. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut, said lumbercomprising a plurality of wood elements cemented together to form aslab, and sheets of veneer cemented to and covering the upper and lowersurfaces of the elements respectively.

18. Lumber from which printing plate bases are to be cut comprisingsheets of veneer constituting the top and bottom of the lumber and atleast one layer of wood blocks held between the sheets each of saidblocks having all its surface hermetically sealed.

HORACE W. HACKER.

